Homily: the Sunday after AscensionThe Celebration of First Confessions John 17:1-13

At the end of today's Gospel, Jesus – the Son of God – tells us that He has taken all the love and teaching that His Father – God – gave Him and shared it with the people of the world so that they may have true joy “fulfilled in themselves.”

God wants to give us the skills and power so that we can be good and joyful NO MATTER WHAT IS HAPPENING AROUND US. His Son had those skills and that power – He got them from His Father. He was so skilled and powerful that He held onto that true joy even through the many sacrifices He made on His heroic journey, even through His suffering on the Cross.

We need that power and we need those skills because life is hard. It's easy to be joyful, patient, and good when life is all warm and fuzzy. But what about when it's cold and sharp like needles? How long does our patience and goodness last when the thorns start poking into our skin? When the cold and wet has made its way into our bones?

It is in hard times that we learn how weak we are in goodness; we lash out at others – the ones whom we were called to help as the thorns and cold hurt them adding to the damage that they sustain – we or retreat into our shell – making the world even colder and doing nothing to heal the pain of those around us.

This is not what we were made for. We were made to be the heroes that beat back the ravaging thorns; the courageous medic – like Private Desmond Doss of Hacksaw Ridge – who continue to save those in need despite the great risk and damage to their own bodies.

We were made to have that kind of courage – that is the kind of courage the world needs to help with its groaning. The Lord wants all His children to have joy – but He sees that they suffer. So first He gave His Son the necessary skills and power – and now His Son wants to pass them on to us.

What are those skills? What are those powers? How can we get them?

It takes training: the continuous repetition of useful actions.

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Part of that training is Confession. Today we welcome S____ and L____ into the Training Academy for courageous warriors and medics of virtue and power.

How does confession work? It keeps us good and healthy so that we can wield power correctly.

The body needs water to sustain itself. If that water is full of good vitamins and minerals, then it's even better.

What happens when we drink dirty water? Soldiers have to keep their canteens and cups clean and drink only potable water. Dirty cup + clean water? No good. Clean cup + dirty water? No good (the cup is no longer clean). Confession is how we keep the cup clean.

Every bit of anger, impatience, mean-ness, jealousy, laziness, and disrespect puts a chunk of dirt into that canteen. You can shake it out on your own and continue to drink from it, but you can see how that might still make you sick. And being sick, you just become more likely to get angry, mean, jealous, and disrespectful – and your cup just fills up with clumps of dirt even faster.

What would you do if your cup was so dirty it made you sick? You'd clean it.

The Lord tells us that He will give us “Living Water”. This is to drink, but it is also to clean.

Thanks to you confession, your cup is now clean. Repentance has allowed God's “Living Water” to wash it out. You can now drink that “Living Water” without polluting it. You can now resume your training, so that you can grow into warriors and medics of virtue and power.

The world needs you to be good. It needs you to be powerful. It needs you to be courageous.

God wants you to be good, to be powerful, and to be courageous.

He has given you your families and the Church to train you and give you the power and skills you need.